Self-guided Sightseeing Tour #4 in Philadelphia, United States
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4.6 km
120 m
Experience Philadelphia in United States in a whole new way with our free self-guided sightseeing tour. This site not only offers you practical information and insider tips, but also a rich variety of activities and sights you shouldn't miss. Whether you love art and culture, want to explore historical sites or simply want to experience the vibrant atmosphere of a lively city - you'll find everything you need for your personal adventure here.
Activities in PhiladelphiaIndividual Sights in PhiladelphiaSight 1: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1805 and is the first and oldest art museum and art school in the United States.
Wikipedia: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (EN), Website
Sight 2: Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul
The Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, head church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia, stands on 18th Street on the east side of Logan Square, at the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. It was designed by Napoleon LeBrun to plans by the Reverend Mariano Muller and the Reverend John Tornatore and built between 1846 and 1864. Its dome and Palladian facade, by John Notman, were added after 1850. The interior was decorated by Constantino Brumidi.
Wikipedia: Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul (Philadelphia) (EN)
Sight 3: Philadelphia Pennsylvania Temple
The Philadelphia Pennsylvania Temple is a temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Logan Square neighborhood of Philadelphia. Completed in 2016, the intent to construct the temple was announced on October 4, 2008, during the church's general conference by LDS Church president Thomas S. Monson. The temple is the church's first in the state of Pennsylvania, and the first temple between Washington, D.C., and New York City.
Sight 4: Barnes Foundation
The Barnes Foundation is an art collection and educational institution promoting the appreciation of art and horticulture. Originally in Merion, the art collection moved in 2012 to a new building on Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The arboretum of the Barnes Foundation remains in Merion, where it has been proposed that it be maintained under a long-term educational affiliation agreement with Saint Joseph's University.
Sight 5: The Gates of Hell
The Gates of Hell is a monumental bronze sculptural group work by French artist Auguste Rodin that depicts a scene from the Inferno, the first section of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy. It stands at 6 metres high, 4 metres wide and 1 metre deep (19.7×13.1×3.3 ft) and contains 180 figures.
Sight 6: Rodin Museum
The Rodin Museum is an art museum located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that contains one of the largest collections of sculptor Auguste Rodin's works outside Paris. Opened in 1929, the museum is administered by the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The museum houses a collection of nearly 150 objects containing bronzes, marbles, and plasters by Rodin.
Sight 7: The Thinker
The Thinker, by Auguste Rodin, is a bronze sculpture situated atop a stone pedestal depicting a nude male figure of heroic size sitting on a rock. He is seen leaning over, his right elbow placed on his left thigh, holding the weight of his chin on the back of his right hand. The pose is one of deep thought and contemplation, and the statue is often used as an image to represent philosophy.
Sight 8: Franklin Institute
The Franklin Institute is a science museum and the center of science education and research in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is named after the American scientist and statesman Benjamin Franklin. It houses the Benjamin Franklin National Memorial. Founded in 1824, the Franklin Institute is one of the oldest centers of science education and development in the United States. Its chief astronomer is Derrick Pitts.
Sight 9: All Wars Memorial to Colored Soldiers and Sailors
All Wars Memorial to Colored Soldiers and Sailors is a war memorial in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that honors the state's African American servicemen who fought in American conflicts from the American Revolutionary War to World War I. Commissioned by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1927, it was created by sculptor J. Otto Schweizer and dedicated July 7, 1934. In 1994 it was relocated from a remote site in West Fairmount Park to its present prominent site in Logan Square, along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
Wikipedia: All Wars Memorial to Colored Soldiers and Sailors (EN), Website
Sight 10: Aero Memorial
The Aero Memorial is a gilded bronze sculpture by Paul Manship, commissioned by the Association for Public Art. Aero Memorial is located in Philadelphia's Aviator Park, across from The Franklin Institute at 20th Street and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. The memorial is a tribute to those aviators who died in World War I, and it was initiated by the Aero Club of Pennsylvania in 1917 with the help of the Fairmount Park Art Association. The Aero Club donated modest funds into the Fairmount Park Art Association in 1917 for the creation of the memorial, and after years of fundraising, the Art Association was finally able to contact Paul Manship for the commission 1939. The idea for a celestial sphere was approved in 1944, and the sculpture was completed in 1948. Aero Memorial was dedicated on June 1, 1950. Aero Memorial is one of 51 sculptures included in the Association for Public Art's Museum Without Walls interpretive audio program for Philadelphia's outdoor sculpture.
Sight 11: Budd BB-1 Pioneer Aircraft
The Budd BB-1 Pioneer was an experimental United States flying boat of the 1930s utilizing the Savoia-Marchetti S.56 design. Its framework was constructed entirely of stainless steel, using a newly patented method of welding that alloy.
Sight 12: Benjamin Franklin National Memorial
The Benjamin Franklin National Memorial, located in the rotunda of the Franklin Institute science museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, features a large statue of a seated Benjamin Franklin, American writer, inventor, statesman, and Founding Father. The 20-foot (6.1 m)-tall memorial was sculpted by James Earle Fraser between 1932 and 1938 and dedicated in 1938.
Wikipedia: Benjamin Franklin National Memorial (EN), Website
Sight 13: Saint Clement's Church
Saint Clement's Church is an historic Anglo-Catholic parish in Logan Square, Center City, Philadelphia. It is part of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania. The church, designed by architect John Notman, was built in 1856. It originally incorporated a spire more than 200 feet (61 m) tall; this was found to be too heavy for the foundation and was removed in 1869. In 1929, the church building, which includes the parish house and rectory, and weighs 5,000 short tons (4,500 t), was lifted onto steel rollers and moved 40 feet (12 m) west to allow for the widening of 20th Street. On November 20, 1970, Saint Clement's Church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Wikipedia: Saint Clement's Church (Philadelphia) (EN), Website
Sight 14: Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University
The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, formerly the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, is the oldest natural science research institution and museum in the Americas. It was founded in 1812, by many of the leading naturalists of the young American republic with an expressed mission of "the encouragement and cultivation of the sciences". It has sponsored expeditions, conducted original environmental and systematics research, and amassed natural history collections containing more than 17 million specimens. The Academy also organizes public exhibits and educational programs for both schools and the general public.
Wikipedia: Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University (EN), Website
Sight 15: Swann Memorial Fountain
The Swann Memorial Fountain is an art deco fountain sculpture located in the center of Logan Circle in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.
Sight 16: AMOR
Love is a pop art image by American artist Robert Indiana. It consists of the letters L and O over the letters V and E in bold Didone type; the O is slanted sideways so that its oblong negative space creates a line leading to the V.
Sight 17: Arch Street Presbyterian Church
Arch Street Presbyterian Church is a historic Presbyterian Church at 1724 Arch Street, located between the two Comcast skyscrapers in the Logan Square neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The building was designed by the architectural firm of Hoxie & Button, and built in 1855. It is a one-story, Classical Revival style building with Greek and Roman elements. It features a portico supported by four Corinthian order columns and a coffered dome.
Sight 18: Love Park
LOVE Park, officially known as John F. Kennedy Plaza, is a public park located in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The park is across from the Philadelphia City Hall and serves as a visual terminus for the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. The park is nicknamed LOVE Park for its reproduction of Robert Indiana's 1970 LOVE sculpture which overlooks the plaza, one of three located in Philadelphia.
Sight 19: Clothespin
Clothespin is a weathering steel sculpture by Claes Oldenburg, located at Centre Square, 1500 Market Street, Philadelphia. It is designed to appear as a monumental black clothespin. Oldenburg is noted for his attempts to democratize art with large stylized sculptures of everyday objects, and the location of Clothespin, above Philadelphia's City Hall subway station, allows thousands of commuters to view it on a daily basis. It was commissioned in May 1974 by developer Jack Wolgin as part of the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority's percent for art program, and was dedicated June 25, 1976.
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